Washing machine equipped with sprinkler for use in loading

ABSTRACT

A washing machine with means for sprinkling the clothing being loaded to reduce its bulk.

United States Patent 1111 3,604,221

[72] Inventor NorvinPellerin [50] FieldofSearch "68007.58, New Orleans. La. 143. 145,210, 12; 34/60, 133

1211 AppLNo. 849,939

122 Filed Aug. 12.1969 1 Referencescited 451 Patented Sept. 14.1971 UNITEDSTATES PATENTS I 1 Assisnee poralion 2,357,909 9/1944 Ridge 68/58x Kenneuha- 3,344,447 10/1967 Candoretal... 68/58X 3,401,052 9/1968 Bergeretal. 68/58x 906,816 12 1908 NICOISOn..... 68/58 3.058330 10/1962 Grantham I: 68/145X Primary Examiner-William l. Price Assistant Examiner-Philip R. Coe

I54] WASHING MACHINE EQUIPPED WITH SPRINKLER FOR USE IN LOADING 8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

Attorney-Holcombe, Wethenll & Brlsebols [52] US. Cl 68/12 R, 68/58. 68/207 [SI] lnt.Cl D06f 33/02, ABSTRACT: A washing machine with means for sprinkling D06f 39/08 the clothing being loaded to reduce its bulk.

WASHING MACHINE EQUIPPED WITH SPRINKLER FOR USE IN LOADING This application relates to an improvement in automatic washing machines, and particularly to large commercial machines of the washer-extractor type.

These machines comprise rotating cylindrical "baskets" having perforated walls for holding the clothing to be washed, and'in many cases these baskets" are divided into two compartments by an axially extending partition. A representative machine of thistype is described in my US. Pat. application, Ser. No. 765,438, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,529,450, filed Oct. 7, 1968.

When the basket of such a machine is in loading" position, this partition is vertical, and clothes may be simultaneously loaded into both compartments. Unfortunately, dryclothes tend to be fluffy and bulky, so that stuffing the maximum load the machine will handle into the compartments requires time and exertion by the attendant.

My invention seeks to alleviate this problem by wetting down the clothes as they are introduced into the basket, thus reducing their bulk.

One representative embodiment of a machine equipped with apparatus embodying my invention will now be described, purely by way of illustration and example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view showing the upper part of one end of a representative machine, with part of the housing and basket broken away to show the spray means;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view, taken along the line IlIl of FIG. 1, showing the duct through which water is introduced during loading; and

FIG. 3 is a partial circuit diagram showing the circuitry used to control the introduction of water during loading of the machine.

Referring now to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the rotating basket which turns about a horizontal shaft 9, is divided into two compartments A and B by a partition 11, which is vertical when the basket is in loading position so as to permit loading through the doors 8 which are then open. Perforated distributor plates 12 and 13 are welded across the two corners formed by the partition 11 and the outer wall of the basket 10. These plates extend axially of the basket and define, with the partition and basket wall, two elongated passageways 14 and 15 which are generally triangular in section. and which communicate with the compartments A and B through perforations 16 in the plates 12 and 13.

It will be appreciated that the distributor plates 12 and 13 may be arcuate instead of flat, and may in fact be semicircular and attached to the basket wall at points peripherally spaced from the partition 11. They may run the full length of the basket or stop short of the ends thereof in order to avoid having water spray out the doors. The ends of the passageways l4 and 15 are, of course, closed for the same reason.

Turning now to FIG. 2, it will be seen that two water-carrying ducts l7 and 18 are connected to the rear end of the housing 19 of the machine and are in alignment with holes 20, 21 in the ends of the passageways l4 and 15 when the partition is vertical so that the basket is in loading position. The ducts l7 and 18 are controlled by electrically actuated valves 22, 23, which are shown near the ends of the ducts for convenience, but may be located anywhere therealong.

As shown in FIG. 3, it will be seen that the solenoids 22a and 23a controlling the valves 22 and 23, respectively, are

connected in parallel to the power source P through a circuit containing the manually operated switch 24 and the finger 30 and conductive drum 27 of the program control means.

This program control means may be of the type described in my copending US. Patent application Ser. No. 765,438 now US. Pat. No. 3,529,450 filed Oct. 7, 1968, and comprises a conductive drum driven at a selected speed. A roll of perforated paper 28 is positioned between the drum 27 and a bank of conductive fingers which rides on the paper so that each finger will make electrical contact with the drum whenever it encounters a perforation in the paper. When each finger makes such contact it closes a circuit for carrying out a particular step in the operating cycle of the machine, e.g., starting the rotation of the basket, introducing hot water, draining water, introducing cold water, etc., etc. In my aforesaid copending application circuitry is disclosed which causes the basket to be automatically spotted" in a plurality of desired positions. One of these is a loading" position in which the partition is vertical, and it will be appreciated that the basket is always spotted for. loading with the same side up. When the presentinvention is used with such program control means, the perforation cooperating withthe finger 30 is positioned to permit it to contact the drum shortly after the machine has been spotted in loading position. Then, if switch 24 is already closed, sprinkling will start automatically. If not,

sprinkling will start whenever switch 24 is manually closed.

Whenever both 24 and 30 are closed, valves 22 and 23 will be opened and water will be introduced into compartments A and B through valves 22, 23, distributor inlets 20,21, distributors 14 and 15 and holes 16.

An additional manually operated switch 25 maybe provided which, when closed, connects the power source P to the coil 26a controlling the drain valve 26 at the bottom of the machine. This makes it possible to operate the sprinkling- The valves 22 and 23 may, of course, be replaced by groups of valves connected to supply-either hot or cold water, or a mixture thereof as desired.

Whatlclaim is:

1. In a washing machine comprising a basket mounted to rotate within a housing about a horizontal axis, an axial partition dividing said basket into two compartments, and door means at one end of said basket for introducing laundry into said compartments, the improvement which comprises a water distributor in each compartment, said distributor extending longitudinally of said compartment and being positioned near the top thereof when said basket is in a loading position with. 9

said partition vertical, water inlet means at one end of each distributor, and means carried by said housing for introducing water into said water inlet means when said basket is in said loading position.

2. A washing machine as claimed in claim .1 in which said water-introducing means comprises water-conducting means terminating in said housing opposite said water inlet means,

when said basket is in said loading position, electrically actuated valve means controlling the flow of water in said waterconducting means, and a manually operated switch connected to open and close an electrical circuit supplying said valve means.

3. A washing machine as claimed in claim 2 in which saidv circuit is connected across program control means programmed to keep said circuit open whenever said basket is away from said loading position.

4. A washing machine as claimed in claim 2 in which said machine comprises an electrically controlled drain valve anda switch controlling the operation of said drain valve connected in said circuit in parallel with said first-mentioned switch.

5. A washing machine as claimed in claim 1 in which said distributor stops short of the end of said basket carrying said door means. i

6. In a washing machine comprising a basket mounted to rotate within a housing about a horizontal axis, and having door means in said housing and basket for introducing laundry into said basket when said basket is in loading position with the door in said basket aligned with the door in said housing,

the improvement which comprises a water distributor in said basket, said distributor extending longitudinally of said basket and being positioned to spray substantially downwardly, and

only substantially downwardly, when said basket is in a loading position, water inlet means at one end of said distributor, and means carried by said housing for introducing water into said water inlet means when, but only when said basket is in said loading position.

7. A washing machine as claimed in claim 6 in which said water-introducing means comprises water-conducting means 

1. In a washing machine comprising a basket mounted to rotate within a housing about a horizontal axis, an axial partition dividing said basket into two compartments, and door means at one end of said basket for introducing laundry into said compartments, the improvement which comprises a water distributor in each compartment, said distributor extending longitudinally of said compartment and being positioned near the top thereof when said basket is in a loading position with said partition vertical, water inlet means at one end of each distributor, and means carried by said housing for introducing water into said water inlet means when said basket is in said loading position.
 2. A washing machine as claimed in claim 1 in which said water-introducing means comprises water-conducting means terminating in said housing opposite said water inlet means when said basket is in said loading position, electrically actuated valve means controlling the flow of water in said water-conducting means, and a manually operated switch connected to open and close an electrical circuit supplying said valve means.
 3. A washing machIne as claimed in claim 2 in which said circuit is connected across program control means programmed to keep said circuit open whenever said basket is away from said loading position.
 4. A washing machine as claimed in claim 2 in which said machine comprises an electrically controlled drain valve and a switch controlling the operation of said drain valve connected in said circuit in parallel with said first-mentioned switch.
 5. A washing machine as claimed in claim 1 in which said distributor stops short of the end of said basket carrying said door means.
 6. In a washing machine comprising a basket mounted to rotate within a housing about a horizontal axis, and having door means in said housing and basket for introducing laundry into said basket when said basket is in loading position with the door in said basket aligned with the door in said housing, the improvement which comprises a water distributor in said basket, said distributor extending longitudinally of said basket and being positioned to spray substantially downwardly, and only substantially downwardly, when said basket is in a loading position, water inlet means at one end of said distributor, and means carried by said housing for introducing water into said water inlet means when, but only when said basket is in said loading position.
 7. A washing machine as claimed in claim 6 in which said water-introducing means comprises water-conducting means terminating in said housing opposite said water inlet means when said basket is in said loading position, valve means controlling the flow of water in said water-conducting means, and manually operated means connected to open and close a circuit supplying power to actuate said valve means.
 8. A washing machine as claimed in claim 7 in which said machine comprises a drain valve and means controlling the operation of said drain valve connected in said circuit in parallel with said manually operated means. 